Mr. Netanyahu will soon receive a formal
invitation to form a ruling coalition. He will have six weeks to
put the government together

Friday’s announcement came after Mr.
Peres met separately with the top two candidates for prime
minister, Mr. Netanyahu of the nationalist Likud party and Foreign
Minister Tzipi Livni of the moderate Kadima party.

Kadima won one more seat than Likud in
parliamentary elections earlier this month but did not have enough
support to form a government on its own.

On Thursday, the hawkish Mr. Netanyahu won
a major endorsement from a leading far-right party, boosting his
chances of becoming prime minister.

He secured the support of Avigdor
Lieberman, whose Yisrael Beiteinu party finished third in last
week’s parliamentary elections and is the key to any coalition
government.

Livni reacted by telling Kadima members
the foundation for a far-right government led by Mr. Netanyahu has
been set. She said she would rather become the political opposition
than be part of such an alliance.

Livni has been leading Israel’s
negotiations with the Palestinians, and is determined to continue
those peace talks.

Mr. Netanyahu, a former Israeli prime
minister, and Lieberman are far more conservative in their approach
to peace talks. Lieberman is an ultra-nationalist whom critics have
called a fascist.